Internships

Career Fair depicting many tables, employers and students.

Internships and co-ops are an excellent way to gain hands-on experience in the engineering industry. In both cases, students are eligible to earn academic credit that may fulfill degree requirements.

On this page:

MAE 496: Internship

Students can register for MAE 496 in order to gain credit towards either a Technical Elective or a Professional Practice elective. Students may opt to register for up to 3 credits of MAE 496.

Reminder: A maximum of 6 total credits are permitted to count towards degree requirements for informal courses (496/498/499).

Interested students should review ‘Internship Need to Know’.  After reviewing this document, please contact Dr. Khan at jobaidur@buffalo.edu to obtain written permission.  Upload Dr. Khan’s written permission to a Forced Registration App on the SEAS Portal. Be sure to obtain specific approval for the credit hours desired. This must be done before the end of add/drop for the current semester in which you are interning. Unless otherwise specified by Dr. Khan, the default is 1 credit hour. To count as an elective, you must register for 3 credits of MAE 496.

EAS 496: Co-Op

A co-op (cooperative education) experience is any full-time work experience related to an engineering degree program in which a student temporarily leaves school (at least one semester). These experiences typically last 6-9 months and delay graduation, but benefits include potential academic credit and direct employment upon graduation.

Students with minimum 2.0 UB GPAs and no disciplinary service indicators may take a leave of absence from the university to pursue co-op experiences. A leave of absence can last for up to (2) consecutive semesters. Total absence may not exceed (4) semesters. Alternatively, students can maintain full-time status by taking at least (2) credits of EAS 496 in each co-op semester. As part of planning, students should meet with a financial aid advisor to understand the impact of leave of absence or other registration policies. International students should meet with an advisor from International Student Services (ISS) to ensure compliance with work authorization regulations.

For undergraduate students, in order to minimize the number of semesters required for degree completion, we recommend the following schedules:

Mechanical Engineering: Beginning with the Fall 2016 freshmen class, ideal timing for a co-op is the summer after junior year, continuing through the Fall semester of senior year. Degree completion would occur in Fall of the 5th year.

Aerospace Engineering: Beginning with the Fall 2016 freshmen class, ideal timing for a co-op starts the summer after junior year and should continue for the entire senior year due to pre-requisite course requirements. Degree completion would occur in Spring of the 5th year.

Common Employers

Our students commonly intern at the following companies:

  • Moog
  • Cameron
  • Lockheed Martin
  • General Motors
  • Praxair
  • Dresser Rand
  • NASA
  • General Electric
  • Fisher-Price
  • Calspan
  • General Mills
  • Goodyear-Dunlop
  • Honda
  • IBM
  • Cummins JEP
  • Delphi
  • Sikorsky Aircraft
  • And many more!

How to Land an Internship

Career Design Center helps students learn how to build their career skills, prepare for job searches and interviews, organizes internship and job fairs and provides a database that connects UB students with future employers.

The ultimate job and internship tool to connect employers with UB students and alumni.

UB’s largest job & internship fair that connects employers with UB students interested in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math fields.

The largest job and internship fair for all majors.